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I'm convinced there are two kinds of packers in this world: people who pack Everything You Could Possibly Need and people who pack minimally, almost effortlessly, delicately accounting for all kinds of weather and occasions into three coordinating outfits and one easy to manage, well organized, carry on.

I am in the first camp, certainly.

Overpacking is one of my spiritual gifts. Minimal packing is my husband's.

Naturally, it's a joy to travel with me. Once we added a baby in the mix, our packing level went to an even higher, unfathomable level. The soundtrack to our trip prep started to sound something like this: "Hey! Got any extra room in your suitcase for more diapers/wipes/a hair dryer/my ice skates?"

If could pack the kitchen sink, I would.

Thankfully, people change, and I'm learning how to pack more efficiency and effectively. Travel-sized instead of Costco-sized bottles are a start, as well as limiting my shoe choices (still working on that one.) Also helpful: durable, well designed suitcases. Thule, who makes outdoor gear (and our favorite stroller) just released a line of luggage, built to withstand the elements just like their well loved roof racks and bike racks. The two sizes we have are the 30" and the 28". The 30" is ingeniously designed to zip into two bags, one rolling and one duffel, perfect for using alone or together, for separating baby items, or for overpackers like myself still learning how to pack light. My husband loves the laptop bag for work, and it's designed to hook onto the top of either suitcase.

When I pack lighter, I realize that I usually don't even miss whatever's not there. There is always, always a creative solution, and sometimes, having fewer choices can actually make it easier than having too many (capsule wardrobing taught me that).

I started to think about other things I carry with me (figuratively) that actually make my life more difficult or unnecessarily complicated.

Things like, first birthday party expectations. Somehow (maybe thanks to Pinterest and other forms of social media), this event is HYPED. Where did we get this idea that babies needed this extravagant first birthday party? If you want to go all out for it, great, but if you don't? Also fine. We all know this party is more for the parents than the baby anyways.

In June, we will be celebrating Trey's first birthday. But I'm choosing a small, simple party. Nothing fancy, no paper invites, no rented space, no caterer.

I'm taking this off my plate because it doesn't bring me joy to spend the time or the money in this way. I will celebrate the one year milestone in a way that works for us, not how someone else (or society or culture or social media) thinks I SHOULD be doing it.

These days I'm taking more and more off my plate, letting go of thing after thing, lowering my expectations, packing lighter. This "good enough" space of motherhood is so much better than striving for the unattainable perfection.

I'm trying to pack lighter this spring in all sorts of ways. It's a work in progress, but a great place to be.

Allie Seidel

Hi, I'm Allie.

I'm a mom and Pediatric Speech Therapist, and currently spend my days enjoying those two things. Here I write about DESIGN, MOTHERHOOD, STYLE AT HOME and LIFE in Seattle. Click HERE to read more about me. Say hi at allie@allieseidel.com.

That two kid life can be so crazy at times but then are moments like these that catch my breath and make me remember how fast this is all going. The longest shortest time, the all-in years, the wildest and the most joyful and sometimes the most insane. At Lake Almanor earlier this summer we were sharing bucket list items at a family dinner (and my 92 year old grandma said she wanted to go zip lining so that’s the kind of shoes I get to fill) and I thought about my biggest dreams for this season and realized there are many (take that Disneyland trip we didn’t get to last spring, go skiing as a family) but most importantly, I want to parent from the long-term perspective at the front of my mind. It’s so easy to miss the big picture in the middle of our ordinary, mundane, daily lives, and there are a million tiny tasks to attend to and get lost in when raising small children, but when I can remember what the point of all this is anyways, it shifts my parenting in a major way. It’s not easy to do, but I think it changes everything. Parenting mental challenge, accepted. 🙌🏼

Vancouver was a blast! And insane. The moral of the story is: traveling with kids is a lot of work and takes some strategic planning, but the adventure is worth it. My best tips: high hopes, low expectations, and more snacks. 🙌🏼

So ready. Happy first day, Trey! 🎉

We’ve had to stay close to home for so much of this past year that it felt good to get to leave the COUNTRY. Hello BC. Usually we see friends or family when we travel but this is our first vacation just us! Except it’s not really a vacation since we are responsible for the small children we brought. So basically it’s just parenting and managing the tantrums and handing out snacks in a different location. 😂 Still fun. Still glad we came. Vancouver is a super cool city and I’ll share some highlights in my stories. Happy anniversary/first family trip to us. 🎉

Still finding each other amidst the chaos. 😂 It’s our 6th anniversary today! What a year it has been for us. Unexpected, complicated, stressful, but we navigated it together and we now have a stronger, richer marriage for it. Happy to celebrate every year, but especially this one. ✨

As of next week this room will be home to a preschooler! 🍎 We’re starting to think about chores and the message we want to send with that. I’m convinced there is no one right way to parent, even among siblings, and so much of it is trial and error (and we have definitely had our share of errors). 😂 We’re trying out a few things including that beautiful chore chart by @mydaughterflorence_. So far it’s been lighthearted and encouraging and a fun way to focus on the positive. (A good reminder for us all.) 🙌🏼

Three months with this smiley girl who lights up our whole lives. ✨

I know there are no guarantees in life so I never really expected to have a girl, but now that I’m here I just have one question. How many bows is too many? 😂🙋🏻‍♀️🎀😍